Biohealth Innovation - 395th Edition

BioHealth Innovation

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March 9, 2020

FOUNDING MEMBER OF

BioHealth Capital Region Forum 2020 (April 14-15) - Register Now

Register Now for the 6th Annual BioHealth Capital Region (BHCR) Forum held on April 14-15 at AstraZeneca in Gaithersburg, MD. Join your peers biotech and life science executives and expert speakers from industry, academia, healthcare, government, finance and real estate development, among others, converged to discuss the BHCR’s path forward to becoming a top three U.S. biotech cluster by 2023.

Northern Powerhouse Life Sciences and Healthcare Showcase Event (Tuesday, March 3, 2020)

We would like to invite you to join leading companies from the Northern Powerhouse region of England for a morning of presentations and networking. The delegation is visiting the Capital Region to help build relationships with key decision makers and build close trade and collaboration ties.

Novavax Advances Development of Novel COVID-19 Vaccine | Novavax Inc. - IR Site

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Feb. 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), a late-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced progress in its efforts to develop a novel vaccine to protect against coronavirus disease COVID-19. Novavax has produced and is currently assessing multiple nanoparticle vaccine candidates in animal models prior to identifying an optimal candidate for human testing, which is expected to begin by the end of spring 2020.

Arcellx Announces First Patient Treated with T Cell Therapy Utilizing the Company’s Novel Binding Domain

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Feb. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arcellx today announced that the first patient has been dosed with its engineered T cell therapy utilizing a novel deimmunized synthetic binding domain in the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. This first-in-human Phase 1 trial is the first in a series of clinical trials planned for efficient, stepwise development of the Arcellx ARC-T + sparX cell therapy platform, with BCMA as an initial target.

Pink Equity: The Power Of The Female Dollar (March 12, 2020)

Who runs the healthcare world? Women make 80% of all buying decisions and make up over 70% of the healthcare workforce—yet in 2020 we still do not have an equal voice in the ranks of leadership.

Diversity is also an issue when it comes to venture capital. Female entrepreneurs continue to struggle to raise as much capital as their male counterparts. Although capital investment in all-female founding teams hit an all time high of $3.3 billion in 2019, it represented only 2.8% of capital invested across the entire U.S. startup ecosystem.

Join JLABS for an evening panel discussion as we tackle these issues, and discuss avenues for capital, while forging a path forward for two of the most prohibitive factors at play: a lack of a robust network of female mentors and lack of investment dollars in female-led startups.

Interactive map from Johns Hopkins shows coronavirus spread in real-time

The map allows you to see which parts of the world are impacted the most by it.

A chart is placed to the left of the map showing the number of confirmed cases for specific countries, states, and cities.

Two charts are placed to the right of the map.

Image: https://www.arcgis.com/

IBBR Researchers Awarded $850K from NSF to Study How Plants Defend Against Fungal Invasion | Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research

(Rockville, MD, February 25, 2020) Researchers at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) recently received $850K from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to advance our understanding of how fungi like powdery mildew infect plants including food source crops, and how plants fight back. IBBR Fellow Dr. Shunyuan Xiao (Professor, Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland College of Agriculture & Natural Resources) is the principal investigator on the award.

United Therapeutics and DEKA Announce Additional FDA Clearance Related to the Unity Subcutaneous Delivery System for Remodulin® | BioSpace

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. and MANCHESTER, N.H., Feb. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR) and DEKA Research & Development Corp. today announced receipt of an additional 510(k) clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) related to the Unity Subcutaneous Delivery System for Remodulin® (treprostinil) Injection, also referred to as the Remunity™ pump, enabling United Therapeutics to launch the system using drug reservoirs that have been prefilled by specialty pharmacies.

Capsulomics establishes $3.7 million NIH-funded research collaboration with Johns Hopkins University

BALTIMORE, Feb. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Capsulomics, Inc., a Baltimore-based molecular diagnostics company whose mission is to detect and prevent cancer through earlier detection, today announced a research partnership with Johns Hopkins University, funded by a 5-year, $3.7 Million NIH Academic-Industrial Partnership grant, to conduct an important clinical research study to detect esophageal cancer and its precancerous precursor condition, Barrett's esophagus (BE).

Poets&Quants | $25 Million To Accelerate Johns Hopkins' MBA Makeover

Alex Triantis, dean of the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, says a new $25 million gift from the school’s namesake foundation will go toward accelerating the transformation of the MBA curriculum into a much more healthcare-oriented experience, among other uses. Carey photo

At Johns Hopkins University, nearly a quarter of the Carey Business School’s full-time faculty study or teach in health-related fields. About 38% of current full-time MBA students and 35% of part-time MBA students focus on health-related areas of study.

Image: https://poetsandquants.com

Congratulations to Sonavex, Inc. CEO David Narrow on being selected as an Innovation Leader at Emerging Medtech Summit 2020.

More: https://lnkd.in/e3Z8fUv

Maryland Commerce releases FY19 annual report | Maryland Business News

Over the past year, the Maryland Department of Commerce has continued to foster business growth throughout the state, by simplifying the process of starting a business, prioritizing customer service, and investing in our innovative companies.

During fiscal year 2019, the department provided financial assistance to 167 different economic development projects statewide, from Kite Pharma in Frederick to Smithfield Foods in Cecil County, bringing in a total capital expenditure of $630.5 million. More than 70 of these projects fell under the small, minority, and women-owned business category, according to the recently released annual report.

NIH Is Supporting Entrepreneurs To Address The Looming Public Health Crisis: Life Science Nation Interview with Todd Haim, Ph.D., Chief, Office of Small Business Research, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health | Next Phase Newsletter

Todd Haim(TH): I began working on small business grant programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) more than 10 years ago when I joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow. After 9 years at NCI, I was asked to lead the launch of a new Office of Small Business Research (OSBR) at the National Institute on Aging (NIA). NIA’s OSBR was created just over 1 year ago. It serves as the main coordinating office for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants that are awarded to companies working on solutions to address aging and aging-related diseases.

Image: https://blog.lifesciencenation.com

This Philly lawyer is building three new venture capital funds to invest millions in start-ups

“Philadelphia was an innovation and investment backwater,” but Ajay Raju says it’s headed for venture capital’s mainstream, and he’s personally setting up the partnerships to make it happen, pledges the real estate finance lawyer and chairman of the law firm Dilworth Paxson.

Image: ANDREW THAYER / FILE PHOTOGRAPH

Changes Recommended for Keystone Innovation Zone Tax Credit - Smart Incentives

Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office has suggested making the Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) tax credit refundable, which would eliminate the portion of the tax credit going to tax brokers and increase the funding available to target businesses. Other proposed changes would strengthen the applicant review process and expand data collection to improve program accountability.